Novak Djokovic leads top seeds into last eight in Dubai

Dubai: World No.1 and former three-time champion Novak Djokovic led the march of all four top seeds into the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open late on Wednesday.

After defending champion Roger Federer had scaled the next step with an unassuming 6-3, 6-4 win over Spaniard Marcel Granollers, Djokovic came and polished off the other Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 7-6 (4), but not before some heroics late in the second set from his opponent.

The world’s best player was in total control at the onset with breaks in the first and third in between held serves for a 4-0 lead as he took the first set 6-1 in 23 minutes.

Djokovic may have breezed through early in the encounter, but the Spaniard simply did not give up.as he stretched the second set into a deciding tie-breaker that took a good 67 minutes – with the last four games and the tie-break going on for nearly half an hour.

For the first hour and ten minutes, the Serb had stayed on track with a break in the second for a 3-0 lead. But the 24-year-old Spaniard was far from finished as he broke back in the ninth with the game going on for a lengthy 17 minutes, and held for 5-5 to finally enforce the tie-breaker.

“It’s a good match to be a part of. But it was my fault as I made a few unforced errors while on 5-3,” Djokovic said later.

“I did not know what to expect from him as I have never played him before. I played well for the first half and ten minutes and then he managed to fight back,” he rued.

In today’s quarter-finals, Djokovic will meet seventh seed Andreas Seppi, while five-time Dubai champion Federer will take on wily Russian Nikolay Davydenko – one of the few who had defeated the Swiss ace in the past.

Third seed Tomas Berdych came up with a measured performance to win 7-5, 6-1 against German Tobias Kamke and set a meeting with wild card Dmitry Tursunov – who won 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 against Frenchman Michael Llodra in a roller-coaster second round encounter.

And fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro – watched by countryman Diego Maradona from the royal box - put in enough effort to see off India’s Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-4 to face Daniel Brands – a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No.8 Mikhail Youzhny – a Dubai regular for the past 12 years.

RESULTS
(Round Two Singles) Tomas Berdych bt Tobias Kamke 7-5, 6-1; Daniel Brands bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-4; Nikolay Davydenko bt Victor Hanescu 6-4, 7-6; Andreas Seppi bt Lukas Rosol 6-4, 7-6; Juan Martin del Potro bt Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-4; Dmitry Tursunov bt Michael Llodra 7-6, 2-6, 6-3; Roger Federer bt Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4; Novak Djokovic bt Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 7-6.

(Doubles)
Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski bt Julian Knowle/Filip Polasek 6-3, 6-2; Robert Lindstedt/Nenad Zimonjic bt Nikolay Davydenko/Dick Norman 6-1, 6-4; Victor Hanescu/Lukas Rosol bt Omar Behroozian/Hamad Abbas Al Janahi 6-0, 6-2; Rohan Bopanna/Rajeev Ram bt Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureishi/Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4,6-4; Mahesh Bhupathi/Michael Llodra bt Janko Tipsarevic/Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-3.

Order of Play (Thursday)
Centre Court (Start at 3 pm) Juan Martin del Potro vs Daniel Brands; Dmitry Tursunov vs Tomas Berdych; (7 pm) Novak Djokovic vs Andreas Seppi; Nikolay Davydenko vs Roger Federer.
Court 1 (Start at 2 pm) Marcel Granollers/Marc Lopez vs Jonathan Erlich/Mikhail Youzhny; (4 pm) Victor Hanescu/Lukas Rosol vs Rohan Bopanna/Rajeev Ram; Mahesh Bhupathi/Michael Llodra vs Mariusz Frystenberg/Marcin Matkowski.